


A Moment For Peace

by kinirohana



Series: Citadel DLC: Canadian Edition [1]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Citadel DLC: Canadian Edition, Destroy Ending, Drabble, F/M, Introspection, One Shot, Post-Canon, Romantic Friendship, Sensory Overload, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 22:33:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12993942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinirohana/pseuds/kinirohana
Summary: The party of the century is going down at the Shepard-Vakarian love nest in scenic British Columbia. Javik finds himself needing an escape from the close-quarters chaos and makes a tactical withdrawal to the roof. A minor cultural misunderstanding ensues.





	A Moment For Peace

Javik stepped out onto the balcony and drank deep of the cold nighttime air, filling his lungs till they hurt. Though he could still feel the reverb of the bass, taste the euphoria of the revelers, the cold air shocked his system in a manner most pleasant. Already, he felt the mental fog that came with sensory overload beginning to fade. He would not make the mistake of relying on alcohol to do the job as he had at the Commander’s last party. 

He strode away from the door, seeking deeper darkness and emptier silence. The balcony ran the entire length of the villa’s fourth floor, wide enough and curved so that a person sat at once edge could not see past the halfway mark. The solitude was a blessed balm to his sensory nodes. He paused, propped his arms on the outer-facing handrail, and took a moment to appreciate the scenery. Earth, while as alien as anything else in this strange era, was beautiful in its own way. Snow still lingered at this elevation, but the wind carried the scent of new growth. Despite everything, it smelled like hope.

Eventually, Javik pushed away and continued along the balcony’s curve. Preoccupied with his thoughts and still-aching senses, he failed to notice that he was not the first to retreat to this isolated perch.

“Good evening.”

He did not jump. Could not admit that his pulse spiked and his mind flashed to knives in the dark. How could he, when Liara’s voice was gentle as a breeze on the snow?

“Doctor. I did not expect to see you here.” He greeted her gruffly, still trying to grasp at the remaining shards of his pride. She would not mock him, he knew, and that almost made it worse.

“I needed to get away from the party for a moment. As much as I was enjoying myself, it was just a little too…high-energy.” She paused for a moment, perhaps trying to think of an appropriate euphemism for ‘absolute chaos’. It was how Javik would have described the gathering, albeit with a fond undercurrent.

“Indeed. James and Kaidan were sent to forage for stronger intoxicants when I departed.”

“Goddess save us. It seems I was right to buy the industrial bottle of aspirin, then.” Liara smiled. She closed the book lying on her lap and gestured to the open side of the bench. After a cautious pause, Javik gave in and joined her. His vision swirled for a moment at the sudden change – perhaps he was less sober than he cared to admit…

“I hope the Commander had the foresight to build an infirmary in this maze of a dwelling. With friends like us, she needs it far more than three display rooms for antique firearms.”

“We both know that one was all Garrus’ idea. I think he’d have an identity crisis if he were separated from his firearms for more than ten minutes. Not that we don’t love him regardless.” Her voice was deep and humming with amusement. The effort of not getting swept away by the sound of it stole his wits away.

“That is not how I would describe my opinion of Officer Vakarian.”

“Of course not. Love and friendship are weaknesses, after all.” Liara quipped back, sliding a sly glance at him from the corner of her eye. He huffed at the clumsy jab.

“They are liabilities. Once the universe knows that there is something you cannot afford to lose, it will concentrate every effort on taking it from you.”

“You’re speaking from personal experience, I assume?”

“Your powers of deduction never cease to amaze.” Though he recognized the request underneath her words, he deflected it immediately. It was not a conversation he would subject her to, not even if he had been sober.

“Then excuse me as I mindlessly bow to your vastly superior prothean opinion.” She flicked her book open and resumed where she had left off. Javik tasted her bitter humor on the air, but it was not strained as it had so often been on the Normandy. She had learned how to recognize the things he would not lower himself to voice. Asari patience, it seemed, was a far more potent force than his people ever anticipated. Then again, his people could never have anticipated someone like Liara.

For a long while after, they remained silent. Liara was engrossed in her book and Javik was content to absorb the peaceful emptiness of the wilds around them. Trees rustled in the breeze. Somewhere above them, a bird of prey called to its mate. The moon outshone the stars.

That was acceptable. He cared little for the strange constellations of the human home-world.  Liara was bright at his side, her mind igniting at the challenges issued by the text. He could feel it, very faintly, through the brush of their shoulders. Each new element of the novel’s plot was carefully evaluated and tucked into an ever-growing algorithm. She delighted in unraveling things and seeing the mechanisms behind their function.

He expected he would delight in unraveling her, too.

She would be beautiful under the moonlight.

Javik startled violently and nearly choked as he came to his senses. Shit, shit, _shit_. That…that had to be an adverse effect of the human’s home-brewed tequila. It had certainly tasted like poison, and now he was having utterly ridiculous thoughts intruding on his peace of mind. There would be a reckoning for this. He shuffled restlessly in his seat and wrapped his arms tight around his torso. Perhaps the physical barrier would rein in the ramblings of his intoxicated mind. He screwed his eyes shut and began reciting old canticles. 

While his eyes were still closed, he felt something drop onto his legs. His eyes blinked open and saw a ball of fabric resting on the seam of his legs. He reached for it before his better sense caught up to him. It was pale yellow, incredibly soft, and still warm from where it had been guarding Liara’s neck only moments before. A myriad of remnant memories and emotions washed over him, but worst of all was the scent. It smelled like _her_. Her perfume, her soap, her skin. He shoved it back at her with clumsy, violent haste.

“Your concern is unnecessary. The cold does not bother me. Take it back.”

Liara didn’t react. He frowned.

“My survival is in no danger. Take it back!

Still, she ignored him.

“Doctor.”

She licked a finger and flipped a page.

“Liara!”

Another bird of prey cried, and he lowered his arm with a grumble. His face burned from the wind.

Fine. He was above petty quarrels with a stubborn asari who had no concept of propriety. Of the intimacy she implied by offering him her scent. Even if she couldn't possibly have understood...

He rolled the accessory over in his hands a few times. She had not intended the connotations that he was retreating from. It was nothing more than a gesture of kindness. He could feel that much – her concern lingered on the fabric like perfume. She was offering him protection from the elements, nothing more. It was the same as sharing a fire or the last packet of rations. Kind practicality and absolutely nothing more. 

After all, she would surely never choose such a blasé way of making a mating request.

Culture warred with context for a drawn-out moment before he noticed her stare.

“You don’t have to wear it. I just didn’t want you to freeze, since you’re apparently too stubborn to go indoors when you’re cold.”  The fond exasperation in her tone warmed his bones. It was the determination and persistence that he had slowly grown to admire through the long years of building and protecting the post-war peace. The universe so rarely offered thanks to the gentle, yet her persistence never eroded. Her belief in goodness, her commitment to kindness, her insistence that the means of building the new world order were just as important as the result. None of it faded or wavered, not even towards difficult fools like himself.

“…My thanks.”

Far above them, two hawks rode on the first warm wind of the season. Perhaps, Javik considered as he wound the scarf tight, kindness had a role to play in this new age. Prothean sacrifice had laid the foundation, but it had not been the force to finally topple the ancient tyranny. That lay in the people still dancing in the rooms below them; to the brilliant being by his side. There had to be more than luck, guts and one miraculous human behind their successes. 

Far below them, a chorus of krogan cheers and human roars preceded what sounded like the smashing of a ceiling-to-floor window. He shared a brief, rueful glance with Liara before sighing and following her downstairs to investigate.

There simply _had_ to be, he stressed to himself as he and Liara finally found the scene of the crime. Otherwise, he would be forced to accept that his people had been bested by the likes of  _these_ idiots.

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a pointless doodle in an effort to break writer's block for Sunt Lacrimae Rerum, so don't judge it too seriously ^^;. I might write other drabbles revolving around what is essentially Citadel DLC: Canadian Edition at a later date. Requests are welcome!


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